Lebanon: Conflict widens to Syria

In an article linked here, we see some very revealing quotes in relationship to fulfillment of Isaiah 17, the prophetic scriptures which inform us that Damascus will be destroyed completely, and never to exist as a city again. I've always found it interesting that in most international references to Syria, the term "Damascus" is used, to reflect the known center, or "seat of power" within the country.

Additionally, we are seeing more and more news which describe any future Israel-Hezbollah conflicts as guaranteed to extend into Syria - this article is just one of many.

This article does contain a number of interesting quotes:

"Any future strike at Hizbullah that does not take into account its status as a client of Syria, is unlikely to land a decisive blow."
"In the last week, senior Israeli policymakers made statements of an uncharacteristically bellicose nature regarding Syria."

"It is unlikely that these statements were made because of sudden random irritation toward Israel's hostile northeastern neighbor. Rather, the statements probably constituted part of a message of deterrence to Damascus."

"The need to project deterrence itself derives from a series of significant changes currently under way on the ground in Lebanon - reflecting Syria's ever tighter alignment with Hizbullah and the pro-Iranian regional bloc of which it is a part."

"These changes take place against the backdrop of awareness that the tactics likely to be adopted by Israel in a future war with Hizbullah carry with them the very real possibility that Syria could, on one level or another, be drawn in."

"On Saturday night, Minister-without-Portfolio Yossi Peled said that another conflict on the northern border was a "matter of time." Peled noted that in the event of such a conflict breaking out, Israel would hold "Syria and Lebanon alike responsible."

"Hizbullah has in the last weeks deployed advanced Syrian-made surface-to-surface M-600 missiles on the territory of Lebanon. The missiles, which according to Jane's Defence Weekly are copies of the Iranian Fateh-110 system, have a range of 250 kilometers and carry a 500-kg warhead."

"They bring the entirety of central Israel within Hizbullah's range. The missiles are precision-guided, meaning that in the event of renewed conflict, Hizbullah would be able to use them to target military facilities or heavily populated areas."

"According to Jane's, the deployment of the M-600s adds to concerns already expressed by Israel at Syrian supplying of the (relatively unsophisticated) SA-2 air defense system and the SS-N-26 surface-to-sea missile to Hizbullah."

"Syria's undaunted and increased support for Hizbullah appears to reflect a clear strategic turn taken by Damascus. Lebanese analyst Tony Badran this week drew attention to a recent and relevant report in the Qatari daily al-Watan which quoted Syrian sources who claimed that "a strategic decision has been taken not to allow Israel to defeat the resistance movement."

"But beyond the specific issue of weapons systems, the logic of confrontation in Lebanon suggests that Syria may find it hard to avoid direct engagement in a future Israel-Hizbullah clash.
Since 2006, Lebanon's eastern border with Syria has formed the key conduit for weapons supplies to Hizbullah. And Hizbullah is reported to have relocated its main military infrastructure north of the Litani River, in the Bekaa Valley, in areas close to the Syrian border."

"Which suggests that if Israel wants in a future conflict to strike a real blow against Hizbullah, this implies an Israeli ground incursion into the Bekaa.
Should such an incursion take place, the Syrians would be intimately involved in supplying Hizbullah just across the border, and the possibility of Syrian casualties at Israeli hands would become very real."


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The bottom line: Israel is calling Syria out for their support of Hezbollah, and any future conflict with Hezbollah (which appears somewhat imminent; perhaps this summer as most conflicts in the region seem to occur during summer months) will not only extend into Lebanon, but most likely Syria as well.

What, exactly will lead to the destruction of Damascus, as described in Isaiah 17? This is anyone's guess. Many prophecy watchers assume that Israel will complete this prophecy with a military action against Damascus, and this may indeed prove true, but the prophecy doesn't state how this happens. I have always considered some sort of an accident involving WMDs, which are located in Damascus. It is impossible to know exactly how this destruction of Damascus happens, but it is crystal clear from prophecy that it WILL happen, as no ambiguity can be found in this prophecy.

More rumors of war. The drumbeat for this conflict continues on a daily basis. Its just a matter of time.